Extensible camping trailer



A118- 23, 1938. J. BARTHoLowsKY v 2,127,580

EXTENS IBLE CAMPING TRAILER Aug. 23, 1938. 1 BARTHQLQWSKY 2,127,580

EXTENSIBLE CAMPING TRAILERl Filed Feb. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4g 37 vllt/,(141 49 /17 /NvE/vro: v

.JOHANNES .Bmw-Hol. ows fry,

Patented Aug. 23, 19738 l UNlTEDvfsTATEs PATENT ori-lcs l 2,127,580 axrsssmur cAMrING 'ranura Johannes Bartholowsky, Angeles, Calif.v Application February 8, 1937, Serial No. 121,656

ICIaim.

'I'his invention relates to vehicles of the type commonly attached to the rear of other vehicles that are driven by some sort of automotive force.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a comparatively short trailer while operated along curved roads, which, however, can be extended to a longer form when camped.

Another object is to provide a trailer with means whereby the trailer embodies all the necessary parts to extend it to a comfortable length with ample space for camping purposes.

Another object is to provide parts to form rigid connections when the trailer is extended, while such parts readily adapt themselves to' the shorter 16 trailer.

Another object is to provide means for securing the extensible trailer into a rigid shorter traveling form.

Other objects will appear from the following 20 description and appended claim as well as from the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. lis a side elevation of a trailer embodying this invention, being in extended condition.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section 25 through the folding panels on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of a simple form of flexible floor.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a slightly modied form of flexible floor.

30 Fig. 5 is another slightly modied form of flexible floor.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section on line 6-@6 of Fig. 1,/ merely showing the'principal parts of the structure.

35 As illustrated, the trailer is made of a sectioned main body, of which the larger front part or section II is supplemented by a smaller rear, cap-like section I2, these two sections practically making up the whole length of this trailer when 40 traveling on a road.

Any number .of wheels may be provided, depending largely on the weight and general size' of the trailer, which, in turn, may depend on 1 the requirements of different people, preferably,

45 however,'only a pair of wheels is desired at about the location indicated at I3.

.When ,this trailer is camped, nevertheless, emergency or supplemental wheels are provided, to support the extended rear end, such wheels be- 50 ing indicated at I4, preferably provided on a bracket I5, swingably mounted'as at I 6, to be moved upwardly, out of the way, to the position indicated at Il., so as to not drag on the road when the trailer is traveling.

55 The rear section I2 has rmly embodied in its rails I'l, extending from this rear section I2 into corresponding guideways Il; in the framework of the larger 4front section Il, being the bottom interconnection between these two sections of the 5 main body of this trailer.

In the roof, a similar arrangement is provided in that the roof portion I8 forms a rigid part ot the rear section I2 and extending also into a corresponding guideway I8; in the section II, 10 just under the roof of the larger section II, thereby forming the top interconnection between the two sections of the main body of the trailer.

A flexible floor I9 rests on the rails I1 this floor being firmly connected to the floor in the larger section Il and, when the two sections arein short traveling relation, this floor is made to move into guideway I9., provided for this purpose inthe rear wall of the section I2.

Folding panels are hingedly connected be- 20 tween the two sections II and I2 as clearly shown in the drawings, serving to strengthen the interconnection between the sections of the main body of the trailer and to facilitate squarely shifting movements during the extending and collapsing of the'trailer. n .v It will readily be understood that, when once extended fully, the squarely connected panels will hold the two sections II and I2 in rm relations to one another, and, when the extended trailer then stands on all the wheels I3 and Il, people maycomi'ortably walk from one end of the trailer to the other end within the' larger section I I and between the spread panels 20.

Of course, such panels 2li are provided on the 354 opposite sides of the trailer and connected by the hinges 2| on both sides'forming additional rooms between the panels.

While some of the customary furnitures and fixtures may be installed permanently in the 40 section II, other furniture and fixtures may be of the movable type, packed in the section II during the traveling, to be transferred to the space and rooms between the panels when the trailer is extended during camping periods, and

it will easily be understood that various arrange-v vmerits can be provided, to make this extensible trailer suitable for larger parties. Trailers have come to be used for convenience and comfort rather than for mere emergency, and to 'make any trailer really convenient and comfortable, trailers have come to be built of rather long dimensions.

Commonly-built long trailers, however, have one disadvantage, in that traveling over very curving roads' is diilicult, particularly in mountainous districts.

With a trailer of the ltype disclosed here, on the other hand, conveniences and comforts of a long ltrailer can readily be had while camping: while, during the traveling, the difficulties of thev long trailer are not present.

The panels 20 are simply folded together until the rear section I2 abuts against the front section II, and in this abutting, short, form, the two sections II and I2 are firmly connected by any latching device, in the drawing a hook 3i being, for instance, indicated in the rear end of the section II, to engage the pi'n 32, indicated in the front side of the rear section I2.

The hook 3|, as illustrated, is shown pivotally mounted at 35, with an upwardly extending lever portion 36, provided with an eye 31, by which the hook can be securely bolted in position, to safeguard against any accidental unhooklng.

The rear edge 22 of the roof of the section II is made to overlap the rearsection I2 at the edge 23, serving to prevent leaks, and such a cap, of course may be made of any form to suit requirements of different builders and to suit various forms of trailers.

Having indicated a door 48 land window 45 -in the section I I, and other windows 5I in the panels, it should be understood that such mere details are entirely within the choice of builders and users of such trailers.

However, the whole arrangement is such that it allows any desired and advantageous provision of windows and even doors in the strong panels, since the folding, such as indicated in Fig. 2 will not damage any transparent material that may be used for the windows.

From Fig. 2 it should also be clear that the securing of the folding panels is not necessarily limited to the particular showing, the 'showing being merely for the sake of making the arrangement of extending trailer understood. f

A floor is, perhaps, most simply made flexible by an application of a nexible or pliable covering, such as cloth, or canvas, or linoleum, to the top surface of the crosswise arranged oor-slags I9, in the manner as indicated at 24 in Fig. 3.

A few wires, cables, or string of some sort, may easily be inserted'through the adjoining boards of the floor in the manner indicatedat 25 in Fig. 5, to also provide the desired flexibility.

Then again, metal plates 28 with eyes 21 may `-be applied tothe ends ofthe floor-boards I9 in Having thus described my invention, I claim:-

In a trailer, a body consisting of front, rear, and intermediate sections, the front section constituting a, structure of a rigidly built-up form suitable for living purposes and having a pocket in its roof and having furthermore a flexible floor in alignment with and continuing from the regular floor of the front section, the rear section constituting the back wall of a form to align with the outer contours of the front section in closed up condition of the rear and intermediate sections against the rear end of the normally dimensioned and rigid front section and having a roof portion telescopically mounted in the pocket of the front section and having furthermore a pocket in the back wall to receive the flexible floor of the front section, the intermediate section being constituted by the roof-portion of the rear section and the flexible floor of the front section besides vertically hinged panels connected to the vertical sides of the first-named sections.

JOHANNES BARTHOLOWSKY. 

